1 Peacekeepers killed: Four peacekeepers were killed and one injured in Darfur when one of the peacekeepers serving with the joint U.N.-African Union force opened fire at his fellow peacekeepers, the United Nations said Friday. It was unclear whether the peacekeeper who opened fire was alive, dead or injured. More than 300,000 people have been killed in the Darfur conflict since rebels took up arms against the Sudanese government nearly 10 years ago, accusing it of discrimination and neglect. Violence has tapered off, but clashes continue.

2 Argentina looting: Looters ransacked supermarkets in several Argentine cities Friday, causing two deaths and evoking memories of widespread theft and riots that killed dozens during the country's worst economic crisis a decade ago. The troubles followed a wave of sporadic looting that began Thursday when dozens of people broke into a supermarket and carried away televisions and other electronics in the Patagonian ski resort of Bariloche. The government responded by deploying 400 military police to that southern city.

3 American released: A U.S. Marine veteran who spent the past four months in a Matamoros prison for crossing the border into Mexico with a shotgun will be released Friday, according to his family and lawmakers who came to his aid, ending an ordeal that had heightened tensions between the Mexican and U.S. governments. Jon Hammar, 27, was arrested Aug. 13 when he and a friend drove to Mexico from Texas in a motor home.

4 Mining permits: Haiti's government announced Friday that it has awarded permits for the first time in the country's history to allow two companies to openly mine for gold and copper. Officials hope the move will bring a badly needed burst of money to the impoverished Caribbean country of 10 million people where many live on $1.25 a day. The permits were issued to SOMINE SA, which is jointly owned by Canadian company Majescor Resources Inc. and Haitian investors, and VCS Mining LLC, a North Carolina-based mining company.

5 In-vitro ban: A Costa Rican ban on in-vitro fertilization has been struck down by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in a decision that reproductive health groups said could lead to greater access to abortion and some contraception in other Latin American countries. The court ruled that a long-standing Costa Rican guarantee of protection for every human embryo violated the reproductive freedom of infertile couples because it prohibited them from using in-vitro fertilization, which often involves the disposal of embryos not implanted in a patient's uterus.

6 Thatcher recuperating:Margaret Thatcher, 87, is recuperating at a London hospital after an operation to remove a bladder growth, a friend said Friday. Thatcher, Britain's first female prime minister, has been in fragile health since she suffered a series of small strokes more than a decade ago.

7 Missionaries rescued: Guatemalan authorities say two 22-year-old female Mormon missionaries - one from the United States and the other from Ecuador - were kidnapped for two days before being freed by a special police anti-kidnapping unit helped by the FBI. The three kidnappers, who demanded a $5 million ransom, were captured in the town of Escuintla. Guatemala has one the world's highest rates of kidnapping.